Engagement Marketing Agency & Consultancy

In the auto industry, imitation is a very high form of flattery, and many automakers copy each other's technologies, adding just enough of their own proprietary design and unique features to keep the patent attorneys from sending the...

Posts Tagged ‘Ford’

Electric vehicle sales are expected to hit some 700,000 to 1 million by 2015. With nearly 50 prospective manufacturers seeking capital right now, it will be a crowded and competitive field until many of them fail due to lack of scale and additional funding.

Ultimately, the technology will evolve, the supply side to re-charge these vehicles expeditiously will manifest and consumers will demand the vehicles. Soon, the days of middle east powers and quasi-terror backers will end and our reliance on that part of the world will wane. Think of the political shifts that will occur in the next 2-3 decades as the middle east is stripped of power and leverage.

Automakers worldwide will introduce 42 plug-in and electric models from 2009 to 2012, according to an estimate from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The autos include new entrants from Ford and Detroit-based GM, which championed full-size pickups and sport-utility vehicles in the 1990s.

Nissan is making the biggest electric-vehicle commitment. It is targeting its $1.6 billion government loan to build as many as 150,000 battery-powered Leaf hatchbacks annually and produce lithium-ion battery packs in Smyrna, Tennessee.

“We think that we are the only full-line maker that’s offering an electric vehicle as a mass-market vehicle,” said Fred Standish, a spokesman for its U.S. unit. “We don’t issue sales forecasts. We don’t know where this market will be.”

Could we all be turning more patriotic when it comes time to get a new car?

In a recent Consumer Reports survey of almost 1,800 adults, 81% of those in the market for a new car said they were likely to consider a domestic brand. That compares to just 47% looking at Asian brands and 46% in the market for European models.

“Ford has benefited the most from the recent turmoil in the auto market, with the largest gain in new-car buyers who say that they are likely to consider buying a Ford model — up 17 percentage points compared with a year ago,” Consumer Reports said in a statement on Wednesday.

Consumer Reports credited Ford’s aversion to accepting any federal aid with its appeal to consumers.

The number of those considering buying a GM model was up 6 percentage points. Chrysler conversely was down 25-28% attributed to their court ordered bankruptcy and recent marriage with Fiat.

Troubling for the entire auto industry is the survey finding that showed only 9% of respondents expressed interest in buying any new car in the next year, down from 19% in a June 2008 survey. That’s hardly a surprise considering the big spike in sales the government’s clunker promotion had in August.